Bucharest 1, 2-Room Flat Prices Up 15% In Sept Over 'First Home' Program - Colliers

The prices of studio flats and two-room apartments rose 15% in September compared with the period prior to enforcing the "First Home" program, while the prices of three-room apartments were up by 5%-10%, according to real estate consultancy company Colliers International.

According to Colliers, September is the first month in which the "First Home" program had a real impact on the Bucharest real estate market, as some deals went through. "The most wanted apartments were those ranging within the maximum threshold set by the state," the company said in a statement.

The Romanian Government launched a program to guarantee the loans contracted for the purchase of the first home, within the maximum limit of EUR60,000, with the entire financing granted to this program reaching EUR1 billion.

Compared with the previous month, apartment prices oscilated with margins of +5% to minus 2%.

Thus, Bucharest's district 4 registered a 5% hike of the BREI index (e.n. monthly index valuating the apartment prices) in September, from EUR1,334 per square meter in August.

In districts 1 and 2, the BREI index increased by 1% and by 4%, respectively, while the prices of apartments in district 3 stagnated. Also, in districts 5 and 6, apartment prices decreased by 1% and by 2%, respectively.

In 2008, Colliers International launched the BREI ( Bucharest Real Estate Index), a monthly index that monitors the prices of apartments in Bucharest. The index is split up into BREI Old and BREI New, monitoring the old and new apartments' market, respectively mediafax.ro